Improvement in rolls for reducing railway-rails



0. HEWITT.

Roll for Reducing Railway-Rails.

No. 220,239. Patented Oct. 7,1879.

A15 lepisf liqvenor aw Q,

PATENT CHARLES HEWITT, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT 'lN= ROLLS FOR REDUCING RAILWAY-RAILS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 220,239, dated October7, 1879; application filed March 31, 1879.

CASE A.

To allwhom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES HEWITT, of Trenton, New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Rolls for ReducingRailway-Rails or Flanged Bars, of which the following is a fulland-complete specification.

The object, generally speaking, of my invention is the reduction 'of oldrailroad-rails, fag-ends, or other flanged bars to bars or billets ofadifferent and preferably of rectangular shape.

{My invention relates to that well-known method of rolling in whichtherollers are provided with reducing groovesor passes oblique to the axesof the rolls, and in which thereby the compression is exerted in alldirections upon the objectunder reduction, rolls of the above characterhaving been employed for reducing various forms of metal products,including rails.

The more specific object of my invention is to provide a means ofreducing railroad-rails or fag-ends of rails, whereby the flanges may,by reduction and displacement, be consolidated with the stem and witheach other Without lapping or crimping the metal, the flanges, head, andstem being made to disappear, and a bar, rod, or billet of any desiredcross section produced.

Hitherto two principal ways of reducing rails and like flanged bars havebeen resorted to, viz: A

First, where the. grooves in the rolls were so formed that the railwould either stand vertically or would lie flat, so that the plane ofthe under surface of its flange would be vertical; In the firstabove-named position of the rail the action of the rolls is to crimp theexternal surface of the rail upon itself, while in the second positionoftherail the action of the rolls would not serve to reduce the rail indepth.

Second, it has been proposed to employ rolls havin g grooves of acontour or section similar to that of'the rail or bar to be rolled, saidgrooves being placed or formed at an angle with the axes of the rolls insuch manner that a line across the lower face of the flange would be atan angle other than a right angle with the axes of the rolls.

\ It-has been alleged that in the operation of rolling with groovesformed at an angle with the axes of the rolls the action of crimping themetal upon itself is to some extent avoided,but, it is believed, notavoided to such extent as to render the plan practicable, for the reasonthat in rolls, as heretofore devised, with grooves oblique to the axes,no provision has been made whereby the metal of the flange to be reducedcould be displaced into the stem of the rail.

I have, however, discovered that the efficiency of rolls provided withgrooves at an angle to the axes of the rolls is greatly increased andthe tendency to crimping the metal upon itself Wholly obviated by soforming said grooves that, first, a portion of the flange of the barshall, in its passage through the rolls, be bent at an angle to theother portion of the flange; and, second, that one portion of the bentflange in each successive pass shall occupy such position in the groovethat its plane shall be vertical, while the plane of the other portionof the flange shall be at an angle with the axes of the rolls, as willhereinafter be fully explained.

My invention consists, substantially, first, in an improvement in theart of reducing old rails or other flanged bars to bars or billets ofdifferent shape, which consists in first bending the flanges of the railto form obtuse angles with each other and with the stem of the rail and,second, in compressing or reducing first one bent flange and then theother by vertical pressure acting upon the edge of the given flangewhile in a vertical position, and in the direction of its breadth, insuch manner that the material of first one flange and then of the otheris vertically forced up or down, according to position, into the web orstem of the rail, while meanwhile the other portions of the rail lieobliquely to the axes of the rolls, and are com pressed generally in theold manner common to all rolls having passes oblique to their axes.

My invention consists, secondly, in the re ducing-rolls, hereinaftermore specifically dc scribed and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, the following is a description of a form ofrolls which conveniently effectuate my method of reduction:

The rolls represented are three-high, and,

as illustrated, are provided with five grooves or passes, 1, 2, 3, 4,and 5.

Pass 1 is formed between the two lower rolls in the following manner:

A, upon the lowermost roll, represents an angular flange of such formthat it presents an angled surface, against which the base of the flangeof the rail registers, and over the angled edge of which said flange isbent, so that the two sides of the flange are caused to form'an anglewith each other, and, in consequence, with the stem of the rail.

B, upon the middle roll, is a flange flared to correspond to thetread-surface of the head of the rail.

0, upon the same roll, is a groove of such curvature as to embrace theupper side (considered in reference to angular position) of the head.

D, upon the same roll, is a double-angled fillet, whose two faces, E F,respectively, correspond to the upper side of the web and the top faceof the left-hand flange.

G, upon the lower roll, is a corrugation corresponding to the lower sideof the head of the rail, considered as in the oblique position.

H, upon the same roll, is a flat roundedged projection corresponding tothe lower side of the web, and l is a corrugation corresponding to thetop face of the right-hand flange.

The portion of the pass which is formed by the flange A and corrugationl is vertical in position and of lesser depth (breadth in terms of therail) than the portion between the side F of the fillet I) and theflange A, which is in position angular with the axes of the rolls.

The operation of the groove 1 upon the rail is as follows: The supposedportions of the flange, which are indicated by the letters a and b, arebent, as shown. The portion (1, whose plane is vertical to the axes ofthe rolls, is reduced in the direction of its width, as from a to c, andthe metal of said flange is displaced toward and into the portion of thestem of the rail which is joined to said flange, and the stem therebythickened out, as from c to d. The portion a of the flange beingvertical to the rolls is to the greatest extent reduced, and the portion1; of the flange having been bent out of line with the portion a removesthe material, otherwise resisting the displacement of the material ofthe portion a, so that the material of the vertical portion a is, in itspassage through the roll, not only reduced,butdisplaced toward and intothe stem of the rail.

The height of the rail, as from c to c, is also reduced. The head of therail is reduced, as at a, and the stem, where it is joined to the head,is thickened out.

The pass 2, through which the rail is caused to travel after its passagethrough the pass 1, is slightly smaller, but essentially the same instructure as pass 1, with, however, the structure A, I, H, and (i,corresponding to parts A, I, H, and G, which formed the under portion ofpass 1, made to form the upper portion of pass 2, while parts F E G B,corresponding to F E (J B of pass 1, constitute the under portion ofpass 2, the result of which is that the pass 2 lies at an angle oppositeto that of pass 1, and that the rail in pass 2 lies at an angle oppositeto that in which it lay in pass 1, and that the vertical grooveformeihbetween A and l of pass 2 acts upon the opposite portion of theflange to that which was acted upon by the corresponding vertical grooveof pass 1.

In the passage of the rail through groove 2 the operation is as follows:The vertical portion a of the supposed flange shown in groove 1 becomesthe oblique portion, as at a in groove 2. The oblique portion of theflange b of groove 1 becomes-the vertical portion 1 n groove 2, as shownat b. The head of the rail is reduced and displaced alternately at a andb &c., in successive passes of the rail through the grooves 1 2 3, 850.At the same time the height of the bar or rail is reducedin the usualmanner, and there finally results a bar or billet of compact form, andof a section like groove 5, or other desired section.

Pass 3 corresponds in structure, position, and relation of componentelements to pass 1, while, of course, of lesser dimension and proportionthan either pass 1 or 2; and the same is in like manner true in respectto pass 4and pass 2, while pass 5 is formed to such section as it may bedesired that the resulting product should assume.

By a construction and arrangement of grooves such as I have described,whereby the flange of the rail is bent and subsequently reduced anddisplaced, as above set forth, a mode is provided whereby railroad orother flanged rails or bars may be more perfectly reduced to bars orrods of different form, without crimping the surfaces of said flangedbar, than can be done by other rolls in use for the same purpose.

The bar or billet produced by the last pass or groove of the roll abovedescribed is of such shape as to be capable of being rolled down tofinished form without reheating.

My invention is distinguished from those embodied in other rollsheretofore in use, in which the passes are angular with the axes of therolls, in that my rolls are provided, as hereinbefore described, in eachpass with grooves so formed as to first bend the flanges of the rail toform an angle with each other, and, second, to reduce first one flangewhile in a vertical groove, and then the other flange while also in avertical groove, in the direction of their respective breadths,displacing their material by such action into the stem of the railalternately throughout the series of passes until the form of the railhas merged into that of the resulting product.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States 1. The improvement in the art ofrolling down old railroad-rails to bars or billets of rectangular orother shape in rolls having oblique passes, which consists, first, inbending the flanges of the rail to form an angle one with the other,and, second, in successively compressing or reducing first one bentflange and then the other, While the flange acted upon is in a verticalposition, by vertical pressure,

so as to force the material of first one flange and then of the otherinto the stem of the rail, substantially in the manner shown anddescribed, and for the purpose specified.

2. Rolls for reducing old railroad-rails to bars or billets of differentshape, provided with a series of grooves, 1 2 3, 850., con-

